


The Home I Crave

by cafeinthemoon93



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Arranged Marriage, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fights, Founding of Konoha, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Light Angst, Marriage Contracts, Marriage of Convenience, Reader-Insert, Senju Tobirama Needs a Hug, Shinobi, Shinobi Politics (Naruto), Shinobi reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-26 20:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30111714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cafeinthemoon93/pseuds/cafeinthemoon93
Summary: Your clan kept some business with the Senju since the Warring Period, but now the Hokage of Konoha and head of the powerful clan, Hashirama, wants to strengthen their alliances with your family through marriage. You, the eldest daughter of your clan’s head, is the chosen woman to represent your side of the treaty, while the other part will be performed by Tobirama, Hashirama’s younger brother and a man you’ve never met in your life.
Relationships: Senju Tobirama/Reader
Comments: 10
Kudos: 11





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> Dont mind me, I’m just putting a self indulgent fic out there lol The idea for this story has been on my mind for months, but I never found an opportunity to write it vecause I was too worried about all the unfinished works I already have, but yk who cares about that? Let’s be self indulgent because we deserve it

**“ _So why don’t you leave me alone_**

**_Say you were wrong”_ **

**_(Plumb, Jekyll and Hyde)_ **

As the eldest of five daughters in an important family, you always knew that more was expected from you in the primary aspects of life. To _primary_ , of course, your family understood the duties of a woman of your class, which could be summarized in training to be the good wife in an arranged marriage. The same destiny waited for your sisters as well, but you were the one to open the way for them.

Your family was not only a noble one, but the clan’s head’s family. Being a clan of warriors who fought side by side with the most prominent of the Land of Fire during the Warring Period, all of you were raised as capable kunoichi taught since childhood to value the shinobi ways. Joining forces with another powerful clan through marriage was then the natural goal imposed to you.

You weren’t the greatest enthusiast of it, but neither you were its main antagonist. You thought you could do it as your mother did and just move on with your life. Would there be room for love in your life after you get married? No one knew, but it could be good. Maybe if you got some time to know the man chosen to be your husband, to talk to him a few times during the engagement period, the seeds of such sentiment could have been planted. When you compared your clan’s standards to others you were allied with, you could say yours were liberal as no other and your father was a reasonable man, so that you were counting on his wisdom in that sense: he would introduce the candidate to you first, you would discuss his strong and weak traits and come to an intelligent conclusion both for you and your family.

Well, this is what you were expecting. But life doesn’t always gives us what we expect.

One day, you just came back from a training session and were cleaning yourself in your room. Your parents came to talk to you, and just by their cheerful expressions, you sensed something extraordinary – but much expected – has happened.

When you questioned them, they alternated between themselves to explain the situation.

\- A messenger just came from the newly-formed Hidden Leaf Village, y/n dear – your father started – The crest on his clothing indicated that he was sent by the Senju.

\- By their head himself – your mother added, uniting her hands in joy.

The Senju head? Who was he… Oh, of course, Hashirama, the same man who was chosen to rule the ninja village he created alongside the Uchiha. The news were spreading fast, and you heard of many clans deciding to join them everyday. Considering that you had some business your own clan had with the Senju, it seemed that your turn has come.

But you didn’t hear the full message yet.

\- Hashirama-sama is inviting us to a meeting at the Hokage’s residence – your father continued – He wants to discuss some details about the already existing alliance between the Senju and our clan. According to the young man who brought the message, his leader is studying a way of strengthening our connections. And he wants to do this as soon as possible.

As soon as possible? Indeed, things were happening fast these days when the war is over and people were directing their efforts to different projects.

\- You must have heard that he recently united the Senju and the Uzumaki by marrying the young Mito, their head’s daughter – your mother pointed out – Now, he wants to propose the same type of alliance to us!

So, it finally came. The arranged marriage. You should have seen it coming when the word _alliance_ was mentioned. Still, you were interested now: the Senju were one of the most powerful and influential clans of that time, as old as it could be, just like the Uchiha and Hyugga, so marrying someone from them wasn’t to be taken lightly.

\- You, being our first daughter, are naturally his main interest in this, y/n – your father explained – Alongside the man chosen to represent the other part...

The other part – your future husband. Who was going to be the chosen one? Maybe one of the Hokage’s closest men of trust, or a cousin or…

\- His younger brother and advisor, Tobirama.

Younger brother? You crossed your arms.

\- I… I didn’t know Hashirama Senju has a younger brother – and in a lower tone – I thought he lost all his siblings in war when they were kids.

Your father laughed, if at your ignorance or your morbid comment, you couldn’t tell.

\- No, dear, he still has a brother who works by his side since the creation of their village. According to what I’ve heard, this young man is competent as no other: he takes care of the paperwork when his brother is too busy, mediates negotiations, presides meetings and perform all the boring part that falls on your shoulders when you have an older brother who is too invested in changing the world’s politics.

You needed a moment to process all you’ve heard. So Hashirama Senju still had a brother, and he was the backbone of his political career. And now he was intending to take a new step on the alliance you’ve already had with his clan by setting a marriage between this brother and you. You thought about it: men like this one were necessary in any system that wants to keep functional, because they were the only ones who could get used to have all eyes to their work and no time to rest. Smart, wise, they usually were; a pleasing company outside the office, well, that was debatable. But with a few of them you could to talk to.

You tried to show some amusement by the news, in respect to your parents who were so excited for bringing them to you, as well as to give this man you didn’t even know the benefit of doubt. Maybe a few practical questions about the meeting would calm down your anxiety.

\- So, Hashirama is inviting us to a meeting at his office to discuss the this marriage and for us to meet his brother.

When you asked that, you sensed a hesitation in your parents’ manners that you didn’t like. What was wrong?

Your father was the first to speak.

\- Well, actually we are not going to see Tobirama in this meeting, dear. He was sent to a mission in the Land of Wind and must not come back before the date set to the encounter. However, his brother and him came in agreement about the marriage with a young woman of our clan and set the conditions to the treaty, so that he knows everything that is going to happen while he’s away.

You definitely didn’t like this arrangement. You will be there to discuss something that would change your whole life and the other main part wasn’t even there to look at your face? Something like this just couldn’t have much chances to end up well, no matter how good were preparations that the Senju man could have done. You wanted to tell this to your parents, but something held your tongue: they probably have thought of this while talking to the messenger and even dedicated a line to these worries in their written response to the Hokage; besides, you wanted to see how things would unfold. You’ve learned, in your life as a shinobi, that one gains much more when they show patience rather than precipitation, so you would wait until the day of the meeting to see the rest. Of course everything would be fixed during it, and all your doubts and insecurities about this arrangement would be clarified.

Of course they would be.


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting in the Hokage's office turned out to be different from what you expected in many senses: Hashirama himself wasn't the type of person you imagined, the paths followed by the conversation were different from the ones you wanted, and you understood that the abscence of Tobirama in this meeting was the least of the problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So let me tell you that this will be a short story, not a long *ss one with 10+ chapters, so it might be possible that things will happen too fast in it and that not much details will be explained or showed along the chapters.
> 
> About Mito Uzumaki being in the tags: yes, she will appear in the next chapter and will be a main character here! Yay! I like her despite the little info we have about her and the lack of details about the kind of person she was and such, so everything I'm gonna say here are headcanons. Still, I hope you like my depiction of her <3

Being that one the first time you would meet with Hashirama Senju had an effect on your nerves. Yes, your clan and his had some treating in the past, but you never met him in person: the only Senju with whom you had direct contact were his representatives and messengers when they were sent to your compound. Your surprise after being informed that he had a brother was understandable.

Now that you were already at the Hokage’s office, with your parents by your side while you showed your best looks to your future brother-in-law, things were not as formal and difficult as you imagined they would be before the meeting. After all the days of preparation, the long travel to reach the Hidden Leaf Village – that seemed to deserve the name – the few hours you had to rest after your arrival and a night when you barely closed your eyes in anxiety, the meeting itself felt serene, even anticlimactic.

The Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was assisted by a group of people who carried his clan’s crest. By the silence in which they performed their tasks and the way they moved around the office, you could tell that all of them were shinobi. You just didn’t understand why they were so many: you had some familiarity with these kinds of negotiation, so you knew it wasn’t necessary a group of people that exceeded this much the future couple and their parents right in the first meeting.

Hashirama was a man of light mood and soft manners, who came in person to open the door and greet you and your parents. He apologized for having to set this meeting so soon, which didn’t give you enough time to rest and to prepare for such important appointment, but explained that with the absence of his brother, things were difficult on his side too and he didn’t have a proper rest himself.

\- It is not a problem for us, Hokage-sama – your father spoke for you three – We took care of our own things before leaving our compound, and the messages we’ve exchanged helped us with our arrangements.

\- Besides, it is an honor to be invited by the leader of the first shinobi village to strengthen an alliance – your mother added with a discreet smile.

Hashirama laughed with genuine pleasure when he heard these words, and you took the opportunity to observe him with more attention before you too were involved in the conversation.

When he opened the door and you put your eyes on him for the first time, your initial thought was that he was younger than you imagined to be possible. Hearing that you were about to meet someone who carried the title of Fire Shadow, leader and founder of a ninja village, the current head of his clan and, according to what you’ve heard about the times when his clan and many others were at war, the God of Shinobi, you were unconsciously expecting to see a serious, intimidating middle-aged individual, not the young and good looking man he turned out to be, with his tanned skin setting off the light tones of his clothing, his long hair falling all over his back and the gentle bright in his dark eyes.

It was only natural that you started to wonder if his brother, Tobirama, resembled him. Well, this could be the case if you’d only count on his physical appearance, but you doubted that the Senju brothers shared similar personality traits: by his comment about the absence of his advisor, Hashirama inadvertently let it escape that he was having a hard time to take care of all the responsibilities without his orientation, and the whole group working in the office to replace his brother at the moment wouldn’t let him lie. It was like you first supposed: men like Tobirama had too much work and no time to chill. It was really a shame that you weren’t able to meet him right in this first meeting and make your own conclusions.

You were thinking of this when you noticed all eyes were turned to you. You heard your mother’s voice somewhere beside you:

\- Won’t you answer the Hokage, dear?

You looked at your mother and saw her eyes widened in embarrassment while she apologized for you.

\- Forgive her, Hashirama-sama. Sometimes she just lets herself be carried away by her thoughts.

Hashirama smiled and said it was alright. He turned to you then:

\- Yn/-san, I was saying that I hope you don’t mind the fact that you and my brother will not have much time to spend together once he is back. He will have work to finish and I will help him balance his time between it and the preparations for the wedding. The date of the ceremony must be settled as soon as we can.

You took a breath and chose your words carefully. That could be the only chance you’d have to speak your mind about those arrangements.

\- To be honest, Hokage-sama, I was precisely thinking about this. You see, our compound is far from Konoha, so that we need extra time for any preparation, and you are informing us that your brother has work waiting for him when he comes back. I suggest we use our next weeks to finish our respective tasks instead of setting a date for the ceremony. Precipitation in any aspect of a treaty like this could only harm our plans.

Your father supported your idea.

\- I was about to suggest something in this line – he turned to Hashirama – It will make things easier and calmer for both parts.

The Senju seemed to approve the idea, but some hesitation was sensed in his manners.

\- Let me tell you that this was my first idea too, except for a problem that can come from a long waiting.

You three stared at him, not understanding what he meant.

\- Can you please be more specific, Hokage? – your father raised an eyebrow.

Hashirama sighed.

\- The idea of setting a date as soon as possible actually came from my brother. He stated that once he comes back, he will not have much time to think of anything else than finish the work he was forced to leave behind in order to attend this mission on the Land of Wind. Things kept going on in his absence, so he might find piles of paper waiting for him when enter this office. And… – at this point, the hesitation in his tone turned into embarrassment – Well, you don’t know Tobirama as I do. If he sees himself trapped in an endless task list, it will not be possible to make him do another pause to take care of anything else, including wedding matters.

A workaholic, then. This is what was waiting for you in that village.

Your worries might have showed in your traits, for Hashirama turned to you and spoke in an assuring tone:

\- He explained that he just wants to make sure things will happen orderly and no plans will be left aside because of his work, y/n-san. He already had everything settled on his side before he left, so that he will follow the plan when he come back.

Seeing things from a practical perspective and counting on the fact that Hashirama was familiar with his brother’s _modus operandi_ , everything made sense. The younger Senju was right: creating our own opportunity between many things that would take all our time was better than keep waiting for the favorable occasion. Still, the apparent coldness with which he arranged everything created a knot in your stomach. Was he aware that soon he will have to share a house and a life beside a person he never met before? Didn’t he think that this could be even more difficult than handling paperwork or being sent to missions in distant lands?

But now you had no time to deliberate. For the good of your family, your clan and this treaty with the Senju, you replied positively to the Hokage.

\- If this is the case, Hokage-sama, it is our duty to make sure things will go according to what he established. And your trust in your advisor and brother’s wisdom is enough for us.


	3. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was state that, while your parents would go back to your compound to prepare things for the near future, you would stay as a guest in the Hokage's house to get used to your new home, Konoha. Mito Uzumaki, Hashirama's wife, was assigned to guide and assist you with what you needed. Through her you discovered valuable information about your future husband.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we have Mito Uzumaki as reader's new friend! Just as many other characters in the Narutoverse, I wish we had more info about her, as well as screentime. But the positive thing with less explored characters is that we can create a whole personality for them without the risk of making them OOC.

Because your compound was far from the village and you wanted to avoid unnecessary work, it was settled between your family and Hashirama that your parents would return to your territory to take care of the remaining matters, for they would sent part of your people to live in Konoha in the near future, but this would not happen before the marriage that would symbolize the new step of the alliance between your clans, so you would stay there until Tobirama’s return. You would be responsible for getting familiar with the village, the people and all the minor, practical aspects of the life there, so that your fellow clan members would get the necessary orientation from you.

You saw this arrangement with apprehension. Staying there, alone in a strange place while waiting for your future husband to come back and then having no time to even talk to him before the wedding? The things you had to endure for the good of your people... But you wouldn’t complain. Tobirama, as much as his brother, must have had to get through so much to finally give their own people – and others’ ones – a place to rest. What you had to do now was nothing in comparison to it. And though you haven’t been through the same as them, you didn’t want to stay behind.

But it wasn’t like you had to stay on your own to find out how things worked in your new home. Mito Uzumaki, Hashirama’s wife, was assigned by him to provide you the accommodations and information you needed not only regarding your new life, but also your duties as a politician’s wife and less formal matters, such as the social events you should expect to attend if you wanted to meet new, interesting people.

At first you were a bit nervous with the idea of staying in the company of the Uzumaki princess, but once you met her, your worries about the socialization disappeared: the reception she prepared for you was everything but formal. She greeted you with an honest smile and asked to be called Mito-san. She also stated that she became immediately interested in meeting you once she heard you were a shinobi like her.

Mito, a tall woman with intelligent, small, black eyes and the red hair of the Uzumaki tied up in two buns sustained with a pair of hairpins, was one of those people capable of uniting the most contradicting traits in themselves and still be genuine, for she had in her gestures and voice the softness one would expect to see in a woman of her position and family, but in her ideas and the vivid way she expressed them the same strength people believed only could be found in men.

You talked about your arrival, your travel (which she knew it was long), your parents and part of what was discussed between you and Hashirama. At some moment, she pointed out that you should be feeling a bit lost, so that you could count on her on whatever you needed. You thanked her helpfulness and then tea was offered, because according to her, “sake was only for the nights and the weekends”.

You drank your tea and answered all her questions as best as you could, but your mind kept going back to the conversation at the Hokage’s office; you couldn’t help but keep thinking that something in all of this was… off.

Your discomfort didn’t go unnoticed by Mito, who stared at you behind her teacup.

\- For someone who just said they made the right decision for their clan, you don’t seem too satisfied with the arrangement – she put the teacup back on the stray – Is it about the treaty itself, or about the wedding?

You sighed and put your teacup down too.

\- Well, both, because these two issues are entwined, or so they seem to be in my eyes.

The princess raised an eyebrow.

\- I see. You have a tendency to overthinking, right? – and with a brief smile – Let’s try one thing at a time, then. What’s bothering you about the treaty?

Her organized way of thinking brought you the confidence you needed to speak out, and you tried to explain the issue with as much details as you found necessary.

\- The case is that I can’t stop thinking that things are happening too fast, Mito-san. You see, our compound is too far from Konoha; travels are too expensive and tiring, so we need time to prepare ourselves to such commitments. Things can be a bit easier for the head’s family and the shinobi, but the same cannot be said about our servants and the common folk. To them, a project like this, which will change their whole lives, will sound abrupt, not to say precipitated.

Mito nodded.

\- You are worried that your people should have more time to get used to the idea of leaving their land to go to a new place, far from the first one and possibly too different from it for them to be content in little time, but with things being settled so fast, you feel like this necessity of your people is being sort of ignored.

The tightness you’ve been feeling in your chest started to soothe. She has been in your place once; of course she would understand.

\- Yes, I know how it feels, y/n-san – she confirmed your thoughts – We faced the same issue when the treaty between the Senju and the Uzumaki was sealed. And by that time we had even less time to adapt than you are having now. But, according to what I heard from Hashi, you have reasonable parents who take your thoughts into account, and you even had an agreement with your father about this exact topic during the meeting. In my time, things were a bit complicated – she shrugged in a way that looked weird in those fine clothes and environment – I tried to talk to my father about this, but he didn’t want to listen… Well, not from my mouth. But once his advisors said the same, he considered their opinion.

You were outraged with this.

\- It must have been hard for you! I cant even imagine...

The woman laughed at your irritation and the memory.

\- Old people do strange things sometimes. I don’t blame him. Later, he came to apologize, and we forgot about it.

A moment of silence followed these words, and you used it to empty your teacups. After that, Mito was the first to talk.

\- Now, it seems that the second reason for your worries has something to do with the wedding. What exactly is upsetting you? How does it connect to the treaty?

You took time thinking before you gave her an answer. How would you explain your concerns about the man who would become your husband without offending his family?

\- Mito-san, I will be honest with you. I’m not sure how to put this in words in a… polite way.

\- Polite way? – she laughed – You surely have a way with words.

You smiled too, trying to soothe the tension.

\- Well... During the meeting, it came to my knowledge that my future husband was the main responsible for arranging things this way. From a practical point of view, it was an impressive decision taken in so little time. But considering what I said about my people, I can’t help thinking that it was cold, even arbitrary of him to set things like this. Besides, the Hokage pointed out that, if his brother becomes unavailable for the wedding when he comes back due to the accumulated work, he might not find an opportunity in the near future. I know that if this wedding cannot be settled as soon as possible, our alliance with the Senju might be compromised and this is our main concern right now, but to me this sounded as if he haven’t considered the aspects involved in this type of treaty that are beyond the paperwork.

A glimmer of interest was seen in the Uzumaki’s eyes like you haven’t noticed until then.

\- In fact, planning a wedding using the same methods one would use while planning a task or a shinobi mission sounds unsettling, to say the least. So… how exactly is this situation affecting you?

You finally told her what’s been in the back of your mind for the entire day.

\- These measures, and the way they were taken, make clear that isn’t without reason that Tobirama Senju is his brother’s advisor. But I’m afraid of what they can tell me about him as a _person_ – you crossed your hands on your lap to hide the nervousness – Mito-san, let me ask you: what kind of man is your brother-in-law? What should I expect to see when I finally meet him?

For the first time, Mito Uzumaki seemed to think twice before speaking, less because she didn’t know what to say than because the necessity of saying it the right way. You were the woman who would spend your next years in the company of that man, after all; she couldn’t risk of ruin your newly-formed impression of him, which was already not the best one, or not as good as it should be.

You sensed the change in her tone when she finally spoke.

\- Y/n-san, I will speak as a sister-in-law who knows and loves him for who he is. Tobirama is a man of numerous qualities. He is very smart and a good observer, and thanks to these traits today he has an extensive knowledge in History, politics and diplomacy despite his young age. He also has a talent to organize his ideas in convincing arguments, besides being a capable communicator, but he prefers to use his abilities to work in groups and delegate tasks. Now, as a shinobi, there are few who can be compared to him, even among the Senju. He is the creator of many of the jutsu used by his clan during the warring period, some of which he didn’t even have the time to perfect; most of them were successfully used to counteract the Uchiha’s powerful dōjutsu, the Sharingan. He is also a master of Water Style, though he’s capable of using the other Releases, and has proficiency in kenjutsu. Besides all of this, he has advanced sensory abilities.

You listened to all of that in silence, both interested and intimidated by the image you were forming of your betrothed. You yourself were a shinobi and thus were familiar with many of those abilities and techniques, but you haven’t mastered half of them: you never created any jutsu; you have no affinity with Suiton either: you were a Doton user, just like the other members of your family, and never dreamed of master all the Nature Releases; you also had some experience with swords, but you were never given many opportunities to use them in combat because you were more often acting in the defenses whenever you were on a mission. Among your sisters, there was one who had sensory capacity, so you could say it was an impressive trait for one to have.

And to think that you were about to meet a man who combined all those qualities at once… You heard a giggle that brought you back to the room and the conversation.

\- It’s intimidating even for shinobi like us, isn’t it? – Mito commented, contemplating your surprise – It was the same when I met my husband. Imagine hearing that you are about to become the God of Shinobi’s wife? I was scared as can be – and blinking at you in an almost cunning way – But I never let him know.

You smiled in an attempt to show you understood the point and to cheer yourself up. Now it wasn’t the time to despair; more was coming for you in the next days.

And the conversation wasn’t over yet.

\- Well, I believe I’ve spoke enough for you to understand what exactly you will see when you meet him, y/n-san, and I hope that this will help you to create a positive idea of him – she clenched one of her hands on her lap; if it was nervousness or worry that led the gesture, you’d never know – Because now I have to speak about the man himself and I will not sugarcoat things, for you will meet him and see the truth anyway.

\- Neither I want things to be sugarcoated – you replied with seriousness – Because of my work beside my father as the clan’s head, I’ve met some advisors before. I am aware of the fact that they are prone to show traits that are difficult to handle.

Mito smiled in approval.

\- Well, this makes things easier – and taking a deep breath – I should begin saying that, despite the consanguinity and the years living and working together, Tobirama is the complete opposite of his brother. You might have noticed that even while performing a formal role and having endless things depending on him, Hashirama has a talent to pacify the atmosphere through his manners and talking. You know how this is important in meetings like the one you’ve just attended.

You nodded. In fact, things could have been more difficult if it wasn’t for the positivity of the Hokage while treating with you.

\- Tobirama doesn’t have this ability of soothing things, though he’s more capable when it comes to handling formal tasks. Instead, he remains grounded, realistic and objective until the last moment. He never lets work unfinished, even if he has to push himself beyond his limits to keep up with the excellence in the results. He’s a perfectionist, demanding too much from himself and not rarely from the ones around him. It is true that he has accomplished an impressive amount of successes with this attitude and that our village has been fortified thanks to his efforts, but he haven’t gained the same level of sympathy along the way. You know, working with a man like this is one thing; living with the same man is another.

Your hands, still with their fingers entwined, clenched around each other with this. You were sort of expecting to hear something like that, considering the few information you’ve gathered since you arrived in Konoha. You were now questioning yourself about your role in all of this: how would you build and handle a relationship with a person like that?

\- I know it’s easier to say, but you should not anticipate the difficulties you will face.

Mito’s voice sounded as if she was reading your thoughts; you raised your eyes at her and had this sensation reaffirmed when you saw her expression.

\- All I can do for you is to share my point of view as his ally and sister-in-law. But, speaking as a married woman, I must tell you that there are some things about a man that can only be unveiled by his spouse. I did my part telling you about the advisor and the shinobi in him. The rest you will have to figure out by yourself.


	4. IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You spent the next days at the Hokage's house as planned, adapting to be a guest: the house was as large as your own on your compound, so from time to time you would get lost, entering in a place where you didn't mean to. That was what happened that time, and you saw yourself in a hall with a collection of portraits on the walls. Many of them caught your attention for various resons.
> 
> But there was one that surpassed all of them, one from which you couldn't take your eyes off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo he's not here yet, sorry, but he left a sign for us XD Honestly I was planning to make Tobirama appear right in this chapter, but it would feel precipitated, so I wrote this incident with the hall instead. I hope you like it and please be bit more patient 🥺

Though your future husband had his own residence separated from the Hokage’s, you weren’t sent there after being informed that you would stay in the village for the next days. Instead, you would be a guest in Hashirama’s house, and Mito would provide you the orientation you’d need in your new role.

The Uzumaki princess, with her vivid presence and smartness, helped you to find ways to fill your days with meaningful activities, so you wouldn’t see time passing until the wedding and wouldn’t have many chances to feel like a burden staying in the house of strange people counting on their assistance. You couldn’t entirely avoid this sensation, which led you to decline from small favors and treats that were offered to you from time to time; on the other hand, you found some relief once you realized that the manners showed by the Hokage’s wife during the reception were not mere formality: Mito’s interest in your well being was genuine, and she was not going to give up on making you as comfortable as possible under the current circumstances.

It was better this way, you thought. So you just let her be the friend she was willing to be.

In fact, Mito Uzumaki was an excellent friend: she would always answer your questions and doubts with honesty and objectivity and never hide when she didn’t have the information you needed; the things she asked about you were never embarrassing or invasive, and you always saw yourself willing to talk when she made you questions. You spoke to her about your life with your sisters, your training at your clan’s compound, your use of Doton and how it is a characteristic of your family since the oldest generations; Mito explained that her clan was specialized in sealing techniques the same way your were proficient in Earth Style, and when you asked her about them, she described the history and the creation of the most important among them.

During your time together, most of your conversations consisted in you two exchanging your experiences as shinobi, your families and your relationships with your friends. You discovered opinions and preferences in common despite the obvious differences in your personalities: while you had a tendency to live in your head if you were left alone and not speak your mind unless you were invited too, Mito was straightforward when it came to expressing her thoughts, though she was never rude while doing it; many times she took the initiative to start the conversations, and the mission of taking out your thoughts would almost always fall on her shoulders, no matter how many times she assured you that you were free to speak whenever you needed to.

One day, when this situation happened, she looked into your eyes and gave you an advise for which you would thank her later, when you’d be a married woman facing the challenges typical of your new condition:

\- I am always encouraging you to not keep everything to yourself when you have the chance to talk, but maybe I’ve failed in explaining why I insist so much in this, y/n-san.

You blinked in surprise and curiosity.

\- In this case, let me ask you your reasons for doing this, Mito-san.

\- This can be good for you in any circumstance of your life, of course, but the main reason is that this is the most efficient way to communicate with Tobirama.

You clenched your hands to avoid the trembling that was about to reach them after you heard his name. It’s been a while since it was mentioned between you: you’d usually hear it when Hashirama came home and mentioned something concerning his work or a message sent by his brother. However, you always felt it differently whenever it was said by Mito.

You asked little about him since that conversation you had when you first met the Uzumaki woman. You didn’t like to think you were avoiding the topic, though your attitude would say that this was exactly what you were doing; the case was that you didn’t have so much to ask about him after everything she told you that day, and knowing that he was the brain behind the measures of the new alliance between your clans already said too much about the person he was: any other minor information you’d get would sound superfluous compared to that. Mito noticed your reluctance in this, and despite never asking about your reasons for it, she chose to respect it.

To speak the truth, you would only talk about Tobirama when you got in touch with something – a place, a circumstance, an idea – that, according to Mito, reminded of him in some way. There was a time when you were taking a walk at the shores of a river around the village and she commented that you were walking at one of his favorite places to fish and spend time alone after stressful days.

\- If he suddenly disappears, it is almost certain that you will find him here – she smiled – But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to come here unannounced when he’s trying to get some rest. He’s too attached to his privacy.

You looked around and couldn’t judge him for this feeling: that was a beautiful, calm place; you wouldn’t appreciate being interrupted if you were there seeking for relief from the burdens of the day.

Episodes like this happened with some frequency, and you took the opportunities to enrich the image you were creating of him. Everything you discovered was interesting in their own way, though you weren’t still able to decide if your final opinion was good or not. Maybe it was something between the two – shinobi were always in the gray zone of the human moral compass. And when you remembered that you, as a kunoichi, were included in this account, you refrained yourself from pointing your finger at him.

However, there was a parameter that remained unconsidered to you among all the others, perhaps because of your lack of attention or the great amount of urgent preoccupations you already had, and about which you’d only come to think when you were directly led to it – Tobirama’s physical appearance.

After your experience with Hokage, you were aware that sometimes informations could be deceiving depending on their source and the person who received them. With all you’ve heard about him and considering what you thought of the arrangements led by him, it was possible that your betrothed’s looks were just like his personality: not the most pleasing one, and even scary at some point. But when you added the fact that he had a brother like Hashirama, well, maybe he was nothing like this. At some moment, you started to imagine that he could resemble his brother in some traits, or he was just like the men you saw working in the office during the meeting: all of them had a certain level of resemblance, something that made it possible for a stranger to identify them as members of the same clan, even if they were not blood relatives.

Whatever the truth, all you had was a just a vague idea, a second hand thought that you weren’t willing to turn into a concrete concept or to confirm with Mito: it was more interesting just to hear her talk about his actions and attitudes.

You would only change your mind when, thanks to an unexpected incident, you ended up finding a portrait of him.

You were still getting used to the structure of the Hokage’s house: though your own residence at your clan’s compound was large, formed by many rooms, the corridors were few, not enough to form the same intricate labyrinth of the building you were now. Still, you wouldn’t avoid walking through them without company in order to train your sense of direction, and thanks to the orientations you received from Mito regarding the rooms you had permission to enter, you weren’t afraid of invading the wrong place. But you would still get confused if you entered the wrong corridor.

This is what happened that time, so that instead of reaching the living room you got into a narrow hall with a collection of photographs on the walls of both sides.

You recognized some of the landscapes in them from the path you and your group took when you arrived at Konoha’s territory: hills, rivers and the forest’s entry; some of the residences and farms were there too.

You also identified some of the people: there was a rectangular portrait of Hashirama Senju in what you understood to be his official clothing as the village’s governor; Mito Uzumaki appeared in another picture right beside it, surrounded by a group of men and women with their hair as red as hers and dressed in the same style, leading you to the conclusion that they were part of her family or were close friends; there were also pictures with some of the people you saw in the office beside those two.

The majority of the photos were of people you didn’t know but were certainly close to the ones you knew. There was a photograph of a middle aged man wearing a reddish armor; wrapped on his forehead there was a white stripe with the crest of the Senju. The man had his skin as tanned as Hashirama’s, and his hair was straight and dark just like his, though it wasn’t that long. Looking closer, you noticed the two shared similar face traits despite the lack of gentleness and freshness of the older man if compared to the younger one. There was no identification in the picture, but you thought that this man could be Hashirama’s father. If this was the case, they must haven’t had nothing in common besides the appearance.

Near this photograph, there were other, larger, with a group of children surrounding a woman, all of them wearing the Senju traditional clothing. One of the children, a boy with a bowl haircut, shared some resemblance with the man of the previous image: you looked at him for a moment and recognized Hashirama. The other children, all boys, and the woman were too different from him and between themselves, but there was something in them that told you they were relatives, so that if that was the Hokage’s mother, those boys should be his brothers. With this, your natural reaction was to wonder which of them could be Tobirama.

The first kid, close to Hashirama, had a scar on his cheek and brown hair; he was the one with the widest smile. The second, sitting right after him with a sweet look and some shyness in his manners, had white skin and a hair parted in two contrasting shades: white on the right side and dark brown on the left. The third boy, standing up beside the woman and separated from the others, was the one who most resembled her; he was staring at the camera with a serious, firm look. He had the same light skin tone of the second child, and his shaggy hair was of a shade similar to the lighter side of that boy’s hair as well; but the thing that caught your attention in this one was that pair of red eyes, just like the woman’s, with which he looked into the lens, to the photographer or to something beyond them. It wasn’t the look one would expect from a child.

Considering what Mito told you during the tea and what you thought of the arrangements, you were thinking that this kid had the highest probability of being…

\- Oh.

Your voice escaped when you took a step ahead to observe the next photograph and found in it a figure entirely different from the ones you’ve saw until that moment.

The portrait was the same size as the one of the Hokage and it showed a young man in a blue armor, with his arms crossed, looking at the lens with the same perspicacity you sensed in the boy’s look. His armor was different from the one of the middle aged Senju who you supposed to be his father: around his shoulders there was a huge, white fur attached to his forearm protectors, all of them together creating the impression that his torso was larger than it really was; under the armor, he was wearing a black shirt that covered his neck and arms until his fists; he wasn’t wearing gloves. On his face, he had a gray _happuri_ with the Leaf crest carved on its forehead.

The man had white, voluminous hair that would rebel against the steadiness of his general aspect, as a minor inconvenience that remained out of his control and to which he was already used; looking closer, you realized it wasn’t of a pure white, but of a slight shade of gray. His skin, only visible through his uncovered hands and face, was light, even pale if you compared him to other people who spent as much time under the sunlight as him certainly did as a warrior; was it a peculiarity of him or just the environment where the photo was taken? You had no way to tell. On his face, too, the light tone served as a white canvas for what you thought to be facial painting or tattoos: three red marks spreading over his chin and under his eyes as slits opened by a kunai; around his eyes, black, thin lines that would contour their natural form, already sharp, giving them the sensitivity of a hunter’s eyes.

Those eyes, you realized with astonishment, were as red as the eyes of the boy from the other photograph.

You went back to the children’s picture to observe his face with more attention, and didn’t need much time to notice the similarities between them. The mannerisms, the traits, the seriousness – they were the same person.

It was when you started to look for portraits of the other children and was unable to find anything except the one of Hashirama in the Hokage’s clothing. You already knew that the Senju head had lost his siblings to war, but just a few days ago you found out there was only one brother left for him. You looked at the blue armored man again…

\- Finally I found you.

You startled, almost letting a scream out. When you turned, you found Mito smiling at you.

\- If I was an enemy, you would be in trouble.

A glimmer in her eyes insinuated that she has been observing you for a while, waiting for you to notice her presence. You never cursed your lack of sensory abilities as much as in that moment.

\- I… I am sorry for this – you apologized, looking at the photographs – I took the wrong corridor and ended up here. I wasn’t expecting to find these pictures, so…

You glanced behind, as if sensing the man’s image right over your shoulder. This didn’t escape Mito’s attention: she walked closer to its spot on the wall, looking in the eyes of the warrior. This gesture eliminated any remaining doubts about the identity of the man.

\- You already guessed, didn’t you? – with her unaltered voice, she questioned you without taking her eyes off the picture.

You turned to the portrait too, facing his gaze again.

\- This photograph was taken four or five years ago, but he remains the same – Mito continued – Not even a line of expression appeared on his forehead or in the corner of his eyes since then – and with a smile – The same goes to Hashi. Just another talent of the Senju.

You observed the portrait in silence, not interrupted by the princess: having familiarity with arranged marriages as much as you, she was aware of the time one needed to become accustomed with the looks of their betrothed under these circumstances.

You only spoke when you felt prepared to, and when you did, it was to point out that he looked even younger than you expected after all the things you discovered about him.

Mito laughed.

\- I don’t blame you. If I didn’t know him or his brother and saw them together for the first time, I would certainly think that Hashirama is the younger one.

You laughed too; when your smile faded, you turned back to your contemplative expression. Now, the white collar and the aspect of his eyes just gave you an idea.

\- I hope you don’t find it strange what I’m going to say, Mito-san, but he reminds me of a wolf.

Mito crossed her arms, looking at the picture; now that you were becoming used to her manners, you no longer found it weird to see her doing gestures like that while dressing in noble clothing.

\- Nobody never said that about him before, at least not to me – she commented – But it makes sense, now that I’m looking at him.

You stood in silence for some time. You spent it training your eyes to get used to Tobirama’s sight, to the weight of his gaze, for you sensed that once you were together, you wouldn’t have such time. The funny thing was that, while you stood there, you didn’t notice how much time passed, only waking up when you heard Mito’s giggle beside you.

You turned, only to find her still contemplating her brother-in-law’s image.

\- In his own way, he’s a beautiful man, isn’t he?

You sensed heat coming up your cheeks, mas didn’t refuse to reply.

\- Yes. I dare say yes.


End file.
